Why do it? “It’s sort of a classic film in the sense that it’s infamous. It’s a good not great film by a great director, and we thought if we modernized it and Americanized it, it’s rife for a remake, so we just went for it.”

What other changes would he make? “I look at ‘Straw Dogs’ as a very imperfect movie. It’s a little bit slow and it’s themes are a little bit murky. There are some amazing moments and it’s a very satisfying movie, but you sort of look at what can be improved upon now.”

He also commented on the film’s most controversial moment – “It was pretty much killed by a two-second moment on screen where his wife is being raped and she smiles. That was the end of that movie. You can be certain that she’s not going to be smiling in the rape in my film. I was a critic for years, and very often our reviews will say, ‘Well, if he had done this, it would have been a better film.'”

What is the aim of the remake? “I really want to do is make a movie about what it means to be a bully, how easy it is to become a bully, and how decency is defined I think by not being a bully when you have the opportunity to be one.”

Lurie, who’s new film “Resurrecting the Champ” opens Friday, will next direct the political thriller “Nothing but the Truth”.